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'Grimescapes' by Grant McNicoll at Newave Gallery!

'Grimescapes' is Grant McNicolls first show since graduating from Grays School of Art in 2014. Continuing where his degree show left off, Grant explores spaces and their meaning within society whether its the highly curated artist studio or the grimey forgotten back door of a local corner shop. Grants ability to capture the dirt and grit of overlooked spaces is achieved through a combination of techniques including a photo transfer process which is later embelished with hand painted elements, bringing to the fore the graffiti, signs and architectural details while allowing the rest of the image to drift into the background as they often do in real life.

The series is on display at the newly founded Newave Gallery situated 1 floor up next to Blackfriars pub at the Castlegate. Started by another notable talent Tomasz Wrobel who's incredible painted landscapes stood out at the 2013 degree show. So it looks like there's another reason for graduates from Grays to stick around in Aberdeen with Newave Gallery providing that much needed platform for them to show new work post art school.

The scale of Grants work is interesting with small panels making up the majority of his work with a few larger scale pieces helping highlight his skill with a paintbrush. It was great to meet Grant at his opening and being able to ask him about his process and finding out a little more about his practice. One of my favourite pieces from the show is his train view scene, one I'm familiar with after taking many trains to and from Prestwick, the familiar giant letters pieces of SWAE adorning the rooftops of Glasgow's South Side. Another solid piece depicts the inside of a phonebox complete with tags and detritus, all that was missing is the smell of stale urine!

A great show and another reason to head up to the Castlegate what with Peacock Visual Arts being just across the road. Might even be time to start some kind of gallery posse tour! Anyway keep an eye on the Newave Gallery as they have some more exciting shows coming up and catch 'Grimescapes' before it closes on the 28th!

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